40 CRANBKEKT CULTUEE, 



the surface is covered on both sides of the track, when 

 the railroad is moved to another place, and sand leveled 

 over the place where it rested. 



It requires some judgment to determine the proper 

 depth for the sand, which will vary according to the 

 quantity of muck, and character of the bottom — most 

 sand being required on those meadows containing the 

 deepest muck, for the reason that an inch or two only, 

 upon a deep, soft bed of muck, would settle down, and 

 be lost in the black mass beneath. Therefore, where the 

 muck, is six or eight feet deep, let sand be put on to the 

 depth of five or six inches ; but where it is only a foot 

 or two thick, two or three inches of sand will be sufficient. 

 The price for sanding will vary with the width of the 

 meadow and the quantity put on — ranging from |50 to 

 $150 per acre, for putting it on from one to four inches in 

 depth. 



Another method of disposing of the turf and sanding 

 meadows was adopted, a year or two since, by John 

 Pointsett, the energetic manager of afiairs at " Cra,nberry 

 Park." His method is, in some respects, superior to that 

 just described. 



After turfing the ground, he had the floats thrown up 

 in windrows, leaving a cleared space of about two rods 

 in width between them. He then dug pits, where the 

 muck was not more than two feet thick, and threw out 

 the clean, white sand from beneath, after which the track 

 was laid, and the sand carried out and spread over the 

 surface, while the turf was brought back, on the return 

 trips, and packed in the pits. 



When the excavations were nearly filled up with debris, 

 the muck which had previously been removed to uncover 

 the sand was thrown back, leveled, and covered like the 

 remainder, so that one could not tell where the holes had 

 been by any unevenness in the surface. It is essential, in 



